Sails and biggiwa of vessels



` GEO. T. MAY, OE TOMPKiNsvILLE, NEW YORK.

sArLs AND RIGGING or vEssELs.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,165, dated April 28, 1857.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE T. MAY, of

Tompkinsvlle, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Masts, Sails, andRigging of Vessels, which I denominate the Union Rig; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full and exact description of the same,reference being made to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention Irelates to a system of mastsand sails, `tobe appliedA tor any ship or vessel, which will combine the peculiaradvantages of both the square and the fore-and-aft rigs at present inuse, and present further advantages superior to either by allowing thesails to have a range of not less than 180 over the line of the keel ofthe vessel.

Figure 1 in the accompanying drawings is a side elevation of the lowerand topmasts and the lower'sail or course of a vessel rigged upon theplan of my improvement and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

A is the right mast, and B is the spring mast, constituting, togetherwith their rigging andfttings, one of the sets of masts of the vessel.Both are stepped and secured in the hull in the usual manner, and arebraced together, to secure their upper ends in position, by the bridge Cwhich rests upon the bridge-hounds D, D and is fastened on the masts bythe clamps E, E. One, two or more of these sets of masts are located inthe hull, as may be necessary to its size and capabilities. The rigging,F, of the right `mast spreads abreast and forward of that mast, andthat, G, of the spring mast abreast and aftward of that mast, therigging in each case not being carried either forward or aft beyond themast lines of the set, to be in the way of, or prevent` the boomsswinging around toa line at least at right angles with the keel.

H is one of a pair of sails-the other being of the same size andform,but not shownbent by the luff to hoops upon the pivot mast L, (formed bythe extension of the heel of the top mast tothe deck) attached along thefoot to the booms J, J,'or to rings or carriers upon them, and at thehead to the booms J J", the jaws ofthe booms being so formed as topermit the booms to lie close together throughout their length, whendrawn together at their outer ends by the trusses K, K.

The pivot line is carried upward on the right mast through successivespars to the desired height by means of junction-masts or short maststhat embrace the two sparsv for a suflicient distance above and below adouble cap, which, fitting upon the head of the mast below, receivesalso the heel of the mast immediately above it. The topmasts and highermasts are, in like manner with the lower ones, bridged and have theirrigging spread from the spring upper masts rabreast and aftward, andfrom the right upper masts abreast and forward. The sails successivelyupward are similarly attached to booms, and are operated in the samemanner as those before described. 'Ihe termination aloft is in a spireof the right mast and a iying sail set from off the deck over theuppermost boom.

I am thus enabled to form the combination of sails-called in the Unionrig the kite double, but which may be used single o-r with one set ofbooms and sails, and to effect the vibration of the whole, from the deckto the truck, upon one uniform pivotline to at least the right anglewith the keel line on both sides of the vessel. And I further facilitatethe working of the vessel under this rig by using sprits or' spreadersin the head-sails from clue to luff, which obviates the necessity ofusing do-uble sheets, and I can also apply these spreaders with goodeffect in the uppermost sail of the It will be preceived that each setof masts in my arrangement is entirely supported within itself, and isnot connected for support to the other set or sets in the vessel nor tothe hull of the vessel so as to be in the way of the swinging of thebooms from one side of the vessel to its opposite side.

The set of masts may be made triplicated, or with two spring masts tosupport the right or principal mast, or 'quadruplicated, or with threespring masts standing in triangular position before the right mast, asmay be best suited to the size and description of vessel to which theyare to be attached; the latter description being especially suited tosteamships, as the smoke stack of the boilers may be carried up in thespace between the masts of the set.

It will be seen from the drawings that each pair of booms may be drawntogether so that the sails attached to them will act as a single sailwhen the vessel is sailing on a wind, and that they may be separated sothat each will stand at right angles to the keel and on opposite sidesof it (as shown by the dotter lines in F ig. 2) when the vessel issailing before the wind.

The whole kite -the uppermost flyingsail excepted-being set along boomsas de-v scribed, admits of the saids being reefed and furled by 4drawingthem longitudinally toward the mast by gear worked from the deck eachother.

40, is about as great as could be obtained to be My improvement may beapplied in combination with either the square or the foreand-aft rigs atpresent in use if it should be deemed desirable.

The advantages claimed for improvements are, that in Weatherly sailing awind-hold is obtained for the largest ship equivalent to that of afore-and-aft rigged schooner, and that, with a fair wind, by separatingand spreading the booms to opposite right angles the exposed surface ofsailwhether withthe double kite on one set of masts or with the singlekite on two sets of mastsserviceable with a square rigged ship,including her studding-sails low and aloft.

In addition, the masts being more firmly supported, will sustain aheavier press of sail than could be borne by the ordinary single mast,and the whole kite having va fair sweep over an arc of 180 admits of thevessel being worked with greater ease and safety than she could possiblybe with sails of less range. Moreover these sails can be advantageouslyloosed, set, reefed and furled from the deck, these operations beingvery much simplified and facilitated by my arrangement.

In the application of my improvements to hulls of different size, formand capabilities certain modilicatio'ns of construction may be necessaryto suit the requirements of each, without affecting the generalprinciple herein described, and I do not confine myeslf to any limit asregards the details of construction as they may be varied to suit everymaterial difference of hull. Y

I am aware that boats and small vessels having one or more mastsunsupported by rigging and depending for support upon the hull, havebeen fitted with sails that have or may have a full semi-circular sweep,and I do not therefore claim broadly the use of a sail having suchsweep, but

What I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- The use of the self-supporting set of masts-whether ythe same iscomposed of two or of more masts-they being stayed and sustained by`rigging whose spread at the line of the deck shall not exceed the linesof the distance between the forward part of the pivot mast and theforward part of the spring mast of the set, as set forth.

GEO. TI-IOSpMAY.

Witnesses:

SIDNEY Low, FRANCIS S. Low.

